Browse Projects
100% Complete
67 Total pages
24 Contributing members
Bailey - British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, July - October 1911
Over a 10 week period in the late summer and early fall of 1911, Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864-1942) observed wildlife and collected specimens in western Canada and the Intermountain West region of the United States. The Bureau of Biological Survey's chief field naturalist's diary-like field notes include travel details, daily activities, terrain and descriptions of the communities he visited as he worked in places like the Big Hole Mountains, the Caribou Mountains and Yellowstone National Park. Join in with other volunpeers and help us to transcribe this set of Bailey's field notes. Your efforts help us to augment biodiversity research resources in places like the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
100% Complete
83 Total pages
14 Contributing members
Bailey - California, North Dakota, September - December 1907
The struggle between environmental stewardship and economic expansion is not a new concern. At the end of the 19th century, the United States Bureau of Biological Survey sought to build a comprehensive survey of North America to better inform the choices being made across the country by farmers, ranchers and industrialists alike. In his personal field journal from the fall of 1907, chief naturalist Vernon Bailey notes, "The development of this immense valley of rich agricultural land is going to bring up a lot of problems in useful and injurious species of mammals to be destroyed or protected. A little bulletin on the species, their habits, etc for these valleys would be timely now." Join our digital volunteers in transcribing Bailey's daily record of this expedition.
100% Complete
99 Total pages
18 Contributing members
Bailey - Colorado, New Mexico, May 1903 - October 1903
When you are traveling, do you make notes as the scenery passes by? In 1903, naturalist Vernon Orlando Bailey traveled from Washington, D.C. to Colorado and New Mexico to continue his exploration and studies wildlife and flora of the American Southwest. In this field book, he notes two areas in West Virginia with "Beautiful meadows, streams & springs, open woods and hemlock groves made us want to stop & pitch a tent...These are wild spots that would bear a lot of exploring & study." Join us as we transcribe another Bailey field book and see his passion for the outdoors come to life.
100% Complete
196 Total pages
35 Contributing members
Bailey - Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, July 1904 - December 1904
Have you ever read a book more than once and discovered things you had missed before? Vernon Bailey, chief naturalist for the United States Bureau of Biological Survey, recorded more than notes about flora and fauna in his field books. Team up with other volunteers to transcribe Bailey's 1904 field book and discover additional data about local inhabitants, an Apache fiesta and the Taos language.
100% Complete
35 Total pages
11 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, 1905 and Michigan and Minnesota, 1907
In this small notebook, field agent Vernon Bailey kept a list of specimens, plants and animals, he found while on assignment to study the impact of wolves in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota between March and April on 1907. He seems to have started this notebook in 1905, but stopped after only 5 pages. Together with his journal from this time, we can gain a clearer picture of what was happening in that part of the United States in the spring of 1907. Please join us in transcribing Bailey's list of specimens.
100% Complete
163 Total pages
17 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Pennsylvania and New York - 1938
From giving lectures about beavers to girl scouts to talks about mammals with local churches, naturalist Vernon Orlando Bailey had a busy year in 1938. This field book contains notes about the animals he observed or trapped during his travels to Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, and beyond. Assist a group of volunpeers in making Bailey’s notes and professional activities in different locales around the United States more discoverable to researchers.
100% Complete
148 Total pages
14 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, and Kentucky - 1939
If we saw fresh lion tracks on our trip to the Grand Canyon, you had better believe we would be running the other direction. But not naturalist Vernon Orlando Bailey. No, he was an adventurer. We are mere archivists. During a 1939 trip to the Grand Canyon, Bailey and his colleague spent the better part of a month laying lion and coyote traps, often baiting them with beef or mutton scraps. Sometimes they would be on the move for thirteen hours at a time. Join Bailey, and a passionate group of volunpeers, on a trip to the Grand Canyon…safe at your computers and away from those lions.
100% Complete
43 Total pages
22 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Maryland and California, 1899
Can you imagine sending birds and mammals off to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)? That is exactly what 21 year old Vernon Bailey did in 1885. The USDA had just formed a Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammology with C. Hart Merriam as its head. Not long after, Bailey was employed there and would go on to become Chief Field Naturalist some years later. These field notes document his work in Maryland in the spring of 1899, and in California later that year. Join us to help transcribe his field notes. Bailey's handwriting is not the best, and the scientific names can be a challenge but our other volunteers are always eager to help.
100% Complete
45 Total pages
14 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Michigan and the Northwest United States, 1894 and 1895
The work of Bureau of Biological Survey field agent Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864–1942) took him all over the United States, often to the Northwest or Southwest. In 1984 and 1895, Bailey's work took him to Michigan and the Northwest. In this field book, this Chief Field Naturalist of the United States Department of Agriculture describes the observation of animal tracks and the collection of specimens throughout Montana, Michigan, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon from September 1894 through September 1895. You will find lists of mammalian, ornithological and botanical scientific names organized by date and place name and includes drawings relating to animal behavior. The back of the notebook contains a list of addresses. We invite you to join other volunteers transcribing this material to help make it more accessible to future researchers and scholars.
100% Complete
41 Total pages
18 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Montana, Washington, and Oregon, 1909
Do you have an eye for detail? Bureau of Biological Survey special field agent Vernon Bailey (1864-1942) took careful notes of the plants and animal specimens he observed as he traveled. In 1909, while enroute to Gold Beach, Oregon from Montana, he kept his notes in this field book. Please help us transcribe these notes to make them more accessible for future researchers and scholars. You might want to look at other transcribed Bailey field notes to get a sense for his handwriting style.
100% Complete
65 Total pages
16 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Nevada and California, April 16-October 16, 1898
What might you find in Rabbit Hole Basin, Nevada? Quite a lot if you are Vernon Bailey, chief field naturalist for the United States Department of Agriculture, in 1898. From late spring through early fall, Bailey worked his way through Nevada and California, recording his field observations and collected specimens in a journal about the size of a smartphone. The notebook lists the scientific names of the animals, birds and plants he came across by date and place name. Some descriptions of animal behavior and location are also recorded. Join us in transcribing another challenging Bailey field book and help us make these important documents more accessible to scholars and researchers.
100% Complete
71 Total pages
11 Contributing members
Bailey - Field notes, Nevada and California, Nov - Dec, 1937
Four years after his retirement as Chief Field Naturalist for the United States Department of Agriculture, Vernon Orlando Bailey was still traveling across the country studying birds and mammals in their natural habitats. This field book starts with a mention of traps he designed to capture animals unhurt for study and restocking that would be demonstrated at a meeting with the National [American] Humane Association. The rest of his field notes are dedicated to his trip to Nevada and California, a place he had first explored 48 years earlier. His notes capture so many details of the animal life and land, and the people he interacted with throughout the trip. Please join us as we transcribe these field notes and add them to body of online biodiversity research.
